Retrograde, don't do this!

Osamenor

Osamenor

Staff member
What do you all think about pursuing or avoiding particular actions during an inner planet's retrograde?

I feel this is a timely topic because Venus is currently retrograde and Mercury is in pre-retrograde shadow. Until very recently, I never paid much attention to those things, just did whatever I was going to do anyway. But I wonder what kind of influence planetary retrogrades really have.

I know they say that people with natal Mercury retrograde are not really affected by Mercury retrogrades. Would the same be true of natal Venus or Mars retrograde? I have natal Venus retrograde (though not Mercury or Mars), so am I perhaps unaffected by Venus retrogrades? Or affected differently?

On the list of don'ts, I've heard don't start a new relationship during Venus retrograde. The longest lasting and best romantic relationship I was ever in started as Venus was stationing retrograde opposite my natal Venus. Doesn't seem to be a real don't, to me. My partner in that relationship did not have natal Venus retrograde, however.

I've also heard that you shouldn't start a new job during a Venus or Mercury retrograde. But during this Venus retrograde, I found a new job that, based on everything I've seen so far, is the rare job that fits me, with wild 29th degree Uranus on the MC, extremely well. And no sooner did I find that new job, than I got pushed out the door at my old one, where I was unhappy enough to be looking for another job (I just didn't expect to leave so soon!). Venus rules my MC, so if anyone's affected by a Venus retrograde in the career arena, it should be me.

So are any of these real don'ts? Does Venus retrograde work differently for me because I have natal Venus retrograde? Is there something else going on here that I haven't thought of?
 
Oddity

Oddity

Well-known member
A friend of mine posited a theory that in re-creating modern astrology to take the negativity out of it, the negativity didn't really leave. They just stashed it all under void-of-course moons and Mercury retrograde.

The more I look at this, the more it seems like that is what happened. (I think we could sneak other retrogrades in there, too.)

Most of the don'ts can be safely ignored. I'd still be leery of elective surgery under a retrograde Mars, but barring something like that, or a particular thing that seems to ***** up for you personally under a specific retrograde, I wouldn't pay a lot of attention.
 
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katydid

Well-known member
I have usually ignored these warnings about retros because it is hard not to.

We cant usually choose when we start a new relationship. If you meet someone and you like each other---VOILA. You cant wait until Venus changes direction to continue that connection with someone. It ruins the flow.

You can't tell a potential new boss that you don't want to accept the job or sign a contract YET...it doesn't usually work that way. We take a job opportunity when we can get one.

When it comes to ELECTIONAL charts, then YES, wait until personals are direct. If I can choose the grand opening of my boutique, I want Venus Direct, and angular and well aspected. Same with a wedding chart.

But when clients used to ask for electional charts for surgeries, it was quite difficult, because the l windows are so narrow. They are given so few options that it comes down to choosing the least bad one quite often.
 
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blackbery

Well-known member
I do have Mercury RX in my chart so it's always a good time for me when Mercury turns rx.
I usually meet people from my past, money comes to me somehow and life is just better all around. I do notice more problems when travelling but because I'm aware of the energy, it doesn't affect me as I go prepared for delays and abrupt changes to schedule.

So it makes sense that good things happen to you when Venus turn RX as you are born with that aspect. I'm always tired during Venus RX and spend much more money than I can afford or intend to spend but it always works out that way. This weekend I went away and wasn't planning on spending much but I had to lend some money and give some money and before I knew it, my budget was blown. Still, I had an amazing Venusian time with great company, great food and was given a beautiful gift of turquoise which was totally unexpected.

Saturn is also turning retrograde and I'll be happy about that. Just because it will allow me time to reflect on certain matters and I'm dealing with some issues with the government so they might be resolved at this time.
 
K

katydid

Well-known member
blackbery said:
I do have Mercury RX in my chart so it's always a good time for me when Mercury turns rx.
I usually meet people from my past, money comes to me somehow and life is just better all around. I do notice more problems when travelling but because I'm aware of the energy, it doesn't affect me as I go prepared for delays and abrupt changes to schedule.

So it makes sense that good things happen to you when Venus turn RX as you are born with that aspect. I'm always tired during Venus RX and spend much more money than I can afford or intend to spend but it always works out that way. This weekend I went away and wasn't planning on spending much but I had to lend some money and give some money and before I knew it, my budget was blown. Still, I had an amazing Venusian time with great company, great food and was given a beautiful gift of turquoise which was totally unexpected.

Saturn is also turning retrograde and I'll be happy about that. Just because it will allow me time to reflect on certain matters and I'm dealing with some issues with the government so they might be resolved at this time.
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Yes, my husband has Merc R in Aries. He is a writer , and Merc rules his 2nd house. He often gets job opportunities during retro Mercury cycles. And many times it has been when other people had to drop out or get fired, so it was bad Merc Retro for them, but worked out for him, as his is Retro natally. :whistling:
 
Senecar

Senecar

Well-known member
During the Venus Retrograde, money seems going out, as if there is no tomorrow. But because they were good bargains, perhaps it will be good in the long run.

During the Jupiter Retrograde, it seems cutting off communications with the relatives abroad putting me in the dark. It can give sense of uncertainty and anxiety. But maybe sometimes it is wise to keep oneself to oneself not saying much until things improve. In that way it is better than keeping in touch saying unnecessary things to each other hurting the relationship.

Retrograde could have positive effects too, I feel, but the benefits from the perseverance seem only tangible in the future.
 
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Osamenor

Osamenor

Staff member
katydid said:
When it comes to ELECTIONAL charts, then YES, wait until personals are direct. If I can choose the grand opening of my boutique, I want Venus Direct, and angular and well aspected. Same with a wedding chart.
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I'm reviving this thread because this question has come up again. (Hardly surprising, with all the retrogrades this year!)

I just received an invitation to a wedding at the beginning of August. Mars and Mercury will both be retrograde then. Is that undesirable for a wedding? Why or why not?

I am not, of course, going to tell my friends to change the date. They've already chosen it, made the arrangements, everything, and they didn't ask for my astrological advice. And they've already been living together, essentially married just not legally, for several years. This is just legally formalizing it and throwing a party to celebrate.

The other question kicking around: I'm working on starting a website/blog for myself. At the rate it's going, though, the Mars retrograde will probably be underway when I'm ready to take it live. This year, there are so many back to back inner planet retrogrades that it's next to impossible to avoid them. I don't want to wait when I'm already ready--that feels too much like unfounded superstition, and self fulfilling the retrograde = bad prophecy--but is there any good reason to not want retrogrades going on right then?
 
D

david starling

Well-known member
Retrograde thinking enables you to examine all the possible outcomes before taking direct action. Might there be any "unintended consequences" to beginning your endeavor that you haven't yet considered?
 
Osamenor

Osamenor

Staff member
david starling said:
Retrograde thinking enables you to examine all the possible outcomes before taking direct action. Might there be any "unintended consequences" to beginning your endeavor that you haven't yet considered?
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If it's completely unintended and I haven't considered it, how would I know?
 
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muchacho

Well-known member
Osamenor said:
What do you all think about pursuing or avoiding particular actions during an inner planet's retrograde?

I feel this is a timely topic because Venus is currently retrograde and Mercury is in pre-retrograde shadow. Until very recently, I never paid much attention to those things, just did whatever I was going to do anyway. But I wonder what kind of influence planetary retrogrades really have.

I know they say that people with natal Mercury retrograde are not really affected by Mercury retrogrades. Would the same be true of natal Venus or Mars retrograde? I have natal Venus retrograde (though not Mercury or Mars), so am I perhaps unaffected by Venus retrogrades? Or affected differently?

On the list of don'ts, I've heard don't start a new relationship during Venus retrograde. The longest lasting and best romantic relationship I was ever in started as Venus was stationing retrograde opposite my natal Venus. Doesn't seem to be a real don't, to me. My partner in that relationship did not have natal Venus retrograde, however.

I've also heard that you shouldn't start a new job during a Venus or Mercury retrograde. But during this Venus retrograde, I found a new job that, based on everything I've seen so far, is the rare job that fits me, with wild 29th degree Uranus on the MC, extremely well. And no sooner did I find that new job, than I got pushed out the door at my old one, where I was unhappy enough to be looking for another job (I just didn't expect to leave so soon!). Venus rules my MC, so if anyone's affected by a Venus retrograde in the career arena, it should be me.

So are any of these real don'ts? Does Venus retrograde work differently for me because I have natal Venus retrograde? Is there something else going on here that I haven't thought of?
Click to expand...
It really depends on what kind of chart you are looking at. Retrogradation is an accidental debility. That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on context. Sometimes essential dignity is more important than accidental dignity, in that case it doesn't really matter. But sometimes accidental dignity is more important than essential dignity, in that case it really matters.
 
M

muchacho

Well-known member
Senecar said:
During the Venus Retrograde, money seems going out, as if there is no tomorrow. But because they were good bargains, perhaps it will be good in the long run.

During the Jupiter Retrograde, it seems cutting off communications with the relatives abroad putting me in the dark. It can give sense of uncertainty and anxiety. But maybe sometimes it is wise to keep oneself to oneself not saying much until things improve. In that way it is better than keeping in touch saying unnecessary things to each other hurting the relationship.

Retrograde could have positive effects too, I feel, but the benefits from the perseverance seem only tangible in the future.
Click to expand...
I haven't really seen a consensus on the effects of retrograde planets. In natal, it usually means that the energies of the planet are a bit difficult to manage or that's where we will show our rebellious streak. In vedic astrology, it usually means that results are delayed in some way but will prove to be more profound and sustainable in the end. So there retrogradation is actually seen as a strengthening factor.
 
M

muchacho

Well-known member
Oddity said:
A friend of mine posited a theory that in re-creating modern astrology to take the negativity out of it, the negativity didn't really leave. They just stashed it all under void-of-course moons and Mercury retrograde.

The more I look at this, the more it seems like that is what happened. (I think we could sneak other retrogrades in there, too.)
Click to expand...
Haha, so true!
 
Therese

Therese

Well-known member
I think that retrogradation can be significant in a transit chart if the transiting rx planet is somehow highlighted. The more
emphasized it is, the more natal planets it aspects, etc, the more important its retrogradation becomes, and the planet's placement, dignity, aspects, etc will show the scope of its influence in the native's life.

Also, not all retrogrades are the same. Mercury is rx about 20% of the time, Mars about 9%, while Venus only 7%. Venus rx is much more irregular or atypical in her expression than Mercury rx.

Mars rx is not necessarily a bad time to launch a website. It's possible that you will get something else out of it than what you envision right now, but that can even be a good thing. What is that Mars doing in your chart right now?
 
Osamenor

Osamenor

Staff member
muchacho said:
It really depends on what kind of chart you are looking at. Retrogradation is an accidental debility. That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on context. Sometimes essential dignity is more important than accidental dignity, in that case it doesn't really matter. But sometimes accidental dignity is more important than essential dignity, in that case it really matters.
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So, in case of a transiting retrograde (I'm not talking about natal retrogrades here), what would be some examples of it being desirable? Or not desirable? For an electional chart, that is. When would essential dignity be more important? When would accidental dignity be more important?
 
Osamenor

Osamenor

Staff member
Therese said:
Mars rx is not necessarily a bad time to launch a website. It's possible that you will get something else out of it than what you envision right now, but that can even be a good thing. What is that Mars doing in your chart right now?
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Well, the whole idea of starting a website right now isn't quite as cohesive as it could be. I have some writings that could be turned into a blog. I could also set up a way for people to contact me through it about services. I could also invite people I know who do complementary work to mine to contribute guest posts.

But it's really just a starting point. What I'll do with it in the long run may and probably will change.

In my chart, Mars is going to prolong its transit of my first house through its retrograde. It will turn retrograde minutes away from quincunx to my natal Venus, and turn direct minutes away from square to my natal Chiron. During the retrograde, Mars will make exact passes of quincunx to natal Mercury, trine to natal Mars, and square to natal Uranus. So, it's spending some extra time activating my t-squares.
 
Therese

Therese

Well-known member
I'd say that bringing this website together, putting your content "out there" could involve a process that is more inner or intimate than expected.

Does turning retrograde prevents Mars doing other things in your chart? Depending on what house system you use, etc, it could be interesting to have a look at whether Mars crosses the house boundary and comes back from there, or he chooses not to enter the second house by turning rx.
 
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